Click to viewThe free software iPhone unlock—the only one that counts— has been finally achieved by the iPhone Dev Team and it has been independently tested. Everyone can now unlock their iPhones for free. The unlock was not achieved by GeoHot, who was credited with the first hardware unlocks.

[UPDATE 11:01 PM EDT: The iPhone Dev Team has given Giz permission to host a mirror of the original file and the source code, as their servers are getting hammered.]

Details are thin at the moment, but the free unlock appears to have been achieved by the usual suspects according to some of their claims on IRC channels. Apparently some hackers are exploiting the same buffer bug that the iPhone Sim Free people used to achieve their unlocks, but it is their own independent and free unlock. Keep checking back for updates after the jump. And remember, no Death Star exploding until it gets fully confirmed. [Last update 6:49PM EST]

[Updated 6:35PM EDT]

So far, we know that GeoHot, of the hardware unlock fame, is claiming in IRC channels that he has unlocked the iPhone using the same method as iPhone Sim Free.

At this time, GeoHot hasn't made public any details yet. Meanwhile, hackers from the iPhone Dev Team kept testing the way that Gray suggested. Be aware that it's still not clear if GeoHot's claims are true or not. Unless his claims are independently tested by the community, and the unlock proven to be his work —which hasn't been proved either— the Death Star won't explode.

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[Updated 6:49PM EDT]

While all this is happening, another Dev Team group is currently testing another unlock software right now, which is also "similar to IPSF but works with patching a fls, not some strange bootloader code."

[Updated 7:10PM EDT - EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE]

The unlock has been achieved, but not by GeoHot. Meanwhile, the true iPhone Dev Team hackers were able to put it together, which is going to be available in Deadbeef shortly, according to them.

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Update 8:10PM EDT

File is now available. See above.

[Final update 11:01PM EDT]

This has been fun. I'm still writing the tutorial for the unlock (it's coming, we just want to make it really easy for everyone) but I wanted to share the particular moment when the Giz witnessed how they tried the patch for the first time and succeeded. We were "watching" the events in real time:

Now that the search for the unlock is over, they will keep working on more developments for the iPhone and future Apple devices, things like the iPod touch. That's why they are still asking for donations. If you think their work is worth it, they tell us you can send money to this PayPal address:

IMPORTANT: as the subject of the transfer, don't mention the word "hack" or "hacking" as PayPal is very sensitive about these things. Use iPhone Development Team Donation as the subject so it can be clearly identified.

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The names of the people responsible for it, all from the iPhone Dev Team, are (in alphabetical order): Daeken, Darkmen, guest184, gray, iZsh, pytey, roxfan, Sam, uns, Zappaz (who pointed out a missing thing that made the Dev Team realized they had a bug in previous code), Zf, plus Nightwatch for his iPhone toolchain.